Sentence+Diagramming

= Sentence Diagramming =

== Since part of the writing process involves editing our work, we need to know how to recognize complete thoughts and how to vary our sentence structure. This makes our writing more coherent as well as more interesting to read. Understanding the functions of parts of the speech in a sentence and their relationship to one another can be very helpful in learning to construct good sentences. == == A sentence (to be a sentence) at the very least must have a //Subject// (noun or pronoun) and a //**Predicate**// (verb). The remaining words in a sentence serve to describe, clarify or give us more information about the subject or the verb. A diagram arranges the parts of a sentence like a picture in order to show the relationship of words and groups of words within the sentence. Let us take a look at how this is done. We will begin learning how to diagram sentences and use this tool to become better writers. ==

 Step #1
== Look for the  VERB   in the sentence. A verb is a word that shows action (dance, sing, walk, run, etc.) or state of being (am, is, are, was, were, etc.) == == Ask the question, "What action is taking place, or what happened in the sentence?" The answer you get will let you know which word (or group of words) serves as the verb in the sentence. The VERB is placed on the right hand side of the base line. ==

Aunt Polly  punished Tom for ditching school.
Tom  started a fight with the new boy in town.

 Find the  SUBJECT  of the verb (the person or thing that performs the action).
== Ask the question, "Who? or What?" before the verb. The answer you get will let you know which word (or group of words) serves as the subject of the verb. The SUBJECT is placed on the left hand side of the base line. ==


==  POSSESSIVES   (my, your, his, hers, its, their, Joe’s, Maria’s, etc.)  <span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0)"> Ask the question, "Whose?" <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"> ==

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">
==<span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0)"> ADJECTIVES <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"> (words that describe or limit a noun or pronoun). <span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0)"> Ask the questions, " Which one? How many? What kind? What size? What color? "  ==

==<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"> Look for <span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0)"> ADVERBS  <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"> (words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs). <span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0)"> Ask the questions, "How? When? Where? How much? Why?" <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"> ==